GuerrillaReads accepts my Read!
Big news in my world: I am very pleased to announce that GuerrillaReads reviewed Shishilop Project (Take 2–less wind), accepted the new version, and will publish my video on their site today!
Please go visit and check out their cool project–putting poetry on the streets and other unexpected places! Doing a Guerrilla Read is a perfect activity anytime but especially during a Mercury Retrograde like from today until Oct. 15 when communications may have some extra special twists and turns, some opportunities to reflect, research, reward… (Mine is in Aquarius 10th house which should come as no surprise if you know anything about astrology…Where’s yours?)
GuerrillaReads intends to post a new one monthly–I encourage you to participate! In the meantime, check out what’s there!
Happy Birthday: Bruce Springsteen & KCRW’s Nic Harcourt
Just wanted to give a shout-out to the two biggest musical influences in our home, Bruce Springsteen who turns 59 today and KCRW “Morning Becomes Eclectic” dj Nic Harcourt.
I plan my life around listening to Nic every morning from 9-noon in LA (and on the web), and listen as much as possible to his weekly show, “Sounds Eclectic” which airs locally on Sunday evenings from 7-9pm.
In fact, while I was in labor with my son, I was conscious of the fact I was missing the show! The next morning, when I turned on the radio and Nic Harcourt’s voice came on, my son inclined toward the radio, obviously recognizing the voice he’d been hearing for nine months.
In fact, as I was laboring, I kept hearing this song “Bluebird of Happiness” by Mojave 3 which Nic Harcourt had been playing recently in anticipation of their visit the day after I gave birth–and when I turned the radio on, this song was playing. The lyrics of the chorus go “gotta find a way to get home strong gotta find a way back home”–which was inspiring as I endured over three hours of pushing to get that baby to come home! For a cool video which uses some of the song (you might skip the first 30 seconds though), click this link:
I love Read more…
Fall for Art Predator: OZO review & a poem too
Welcome fall!
On the last night of summer, we headed for the Hollywood Bowl where we had a blast dancing to LA’s Ozomatli, SF’s Michael Franti, Mex-Am Lila Downs and Tijuana’s Nortec collective concert. The show of border crossers, curated by KCRW, hosted by Raul Campos (read his comments, review of the show, and watch his video of the opening here) and sponsored by Mexican Tourism came complete with a goody bag with coffee and a Putomayo cd the small boy loves while he plays with his Lincoln Logs.
The show had us on our feet and dancing most of the night, starting with Nortec Collectives crzy combo of traditional Mexican instruments and modern Apple assisted electronics in a way tooo short set; we couldn’t get enough of them when we saw them a few years ago at a Grand Performances show in downtown LA..
They rotated the stage to reveal Lila Down’s band. Read more…
PBS poll asks: Palin qualified? Obama or McCain?
PBS, the public TV station in the US (gutted by the recent administration), prevails to ask two important questions on their website:
Is Sarah Palin qualified to be VP–and be President of the US should something untoward happen to John McCain (as is a statistically realistic proposition given his age–25% chance he won’t finish his term).
If you need a clue, here’s some excerpts from the recent Saturday Night Live pairing Tina Fey as Sarah Palin with Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton:
Vote here on the PBS Palin poll:
[ http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html ]http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html 
imagine peace: international day of peace today (& every day!)
Today, Sunday September 21, is International Peace Day. Yoko Ono has several projects worth checking into including 100 Acorns, and Imagine Peace.And I love Reed Seifer’s “Wish Piece” inspired by her work.
Locally, folks are making peace flags, making music, and making connections with each other at the Harbor and at Libbey Bowl in Ojai.
The following video from Peace Tags illustrates how ordinary people participate to create and advocate for peace:
Others internationally are organizing a record breaking global playing of Bob Marley’s “One Love.” You can do your part by playing the video below:
We’re heading to the Hollywood Bowl to see Michael Franti and Spearhead, Ozomatli, Nortec Collective and Lila Downs. We’ve seen Michael Franti a few times, including an acoustic show and Q & A at Coachella. He has so much consciousness about what he does and how that I am excited to be able to attend this show tonight thanks to winning tickets on KCRW. It will be a lot of fun and thought-provoking as well. The video of Michael Franti’s new single “Say Hey” from his new album Rebel Rockers is a blast!. I LOVE THIS SONG!! I can’t wait to dance to it tonight!!
I listened to Nic Harcourt interview him on KCRW on Friday Sept. 19; it should show up in their archives soon and it’s definitely worth listening to.
International Day of Peace is held every year around this time; this year it coincides with the equinox, making it an even more powerful time for change.
In order to participate in International Peace Day, you don’t have to join others, although it can feel good! What is important is to make a commitment to peace–and to change. I am going to take a moment, also, to honor the passing of summer and welcome fall.
Man Ray Kitty Jumps
Man Ray Kitty jumps!
The window is closed–
bang! He is stunned
but okay.
We are still laughing.
Man Ray Kitty jumps!
The window is closed–
he is outside, scratches
balances on the ledge.
I let him in.
Man Ray Kitty jumps!
Almost a full story up
through an open window
a carpenter left open.
We are surprised.
Man Ray jumps!
more than a story down
through the through the bedroom window
open to let the jasmine in.
We are surprised.
Man Ray Kitty jumps!
it must be a blessing
to have a small brain
a small brain impulsive
with no doubts, few memories.
Man Ray Kitty jumps!
He scatters from people
but windows were made
for his escape.
Man Ray Kitty jumps…
Man Ray Kitty, along with brother Marcel Duchamp, sister Manxine, and brother Mr. Friendly, was born under the Art City Gallery, and I fostered the siblings, then kept the two wildest, the surrealist brothers Marcel and Man Ray. A silky tuxedo cat resembling a photo by Wanda Wulz which I thought was taken by Man Ray hence the name, he loved exploring the barranca behind our house until a coyote caught up with him. Man Ray made his last jump May 2004; he was seven years old. We miss him.
The posting of this poem was prompted in part by the Read Write Poem prompt to write an elegy. The poem “Man Ray Kitty Jumps” was written August 13, 2003 during the 3:15 Experiment. The broadside was published in ArtLife Limited Editions June 2004 the poem in the Beyond the Valley of the Contemporary Poets Anthology:
sunflowers in bloom
dusted in pollen
golden fragrant i
await you honey
I offer this today since my sunflowers are all in bloom along the fence. The one pictured above somehow lost its head in the coastal breeze, so I brought it in, scanned it, and placed its short stem in a glass of water so to enjoy its scent and its sunny disposition. I published this little ditty in ArtLife Limited Editions in October 1997 (sans sunflower photo); I printed the words on soft yellow paper and over them painted golden glitter.
I have always loved sunflowers, and find their subtle scent intoxicating. To make this fullsize impression on fabric which appeared in several shows, including two solo shows, I painted my body in greens, my hair in yellows, and my face in browns and blacks, carefully placing myself on the fabric to mimic the arrow or heart shaped leaves of a sunflower stalk (it was quite tricky getting up and down–thank goodness for all the hip-openers I do in yoga!), then wrote the poem on the fabric.
For the broadside which was published in ArtLife Limited Editions July 1998, I photographed the painting, and reproduced it with three colors. I signed and numbered the finished pages, glued two sunflower seeds on every broadside and sprayed the paper with sunflower essential oil. The original painting is still available for purchase as are copies of the broadside.
The poem which is printed on the broadside I realize is also an elegy, in keeping with the Read Write Poem prompt, an elegy of sorts to that long-gone relationship, and to love.
Sunflower Song
She was a volunteer,
that sunflower– Read more…
lettre sauvage broadside & chapbook comp
lettre sauvage is a sweet little letter press outfit in my neck of the woods run by a couple and their precocious 5 year old.
They are holding a broadside and chapbook contest–submit 13 pages by Nov 1. The judge is Mark Irwin, a nationally acclaimed poet and four-time Pushcart Prize winner who has been described as a “descendant of William Carlos Williams and Hart Crane.” The author of five collections of poetry, he has also translated several French and Romanian works. Irwin teaches undergraduate and graduate poetry workshops at USC (see an excerpt from an elegy below; learn more about Mark Irwin here). The reading fee is only $10.
They do beautiful work and they are wonderful creative people who I have known for many years; in fact, I have just contacted Fiona about doing a letterpress run for Art Predator business cards and maybe a bookmark too! They offer cards, workshops, broadsides, chapbooks, and my personal favorite, matchbooks which have notepaper within perfect for writing Eileen Myles style poems (see above).
Here is one of Mark Irwin’s elegies (in honor of Read Write Poem’s elegy prompt!) Read more…
bread: a poem & a broadside
i see him when he’s making bread mostly
he doesn’t see me
he is relaxed focused
elegant in his motions
smooth waltz with the dough
he is young and beautiful
smooth cheeked girl slim
i imagine him bringing me bread
warm the bread is warm and crunchy and soft
flour dusts his blue jeans and plaid flannel shirt
the scent of warm bread on his breath
in his brown hair
i wouldn’t want to wash his clothes
wouldn’t want to wash the bread smells from him
he can’t smell it anymore but i
would wrap myself in his bread clothes
understand his life
what he does with his days
the baking of bread i understand this i understand
his rhythm his motion
he would have time to think
his feet would be tired his back
i would knead him
smell the bread smells in my hands
a baker’s life starts early
he would leave the warm bed for the bakery
through the window he can see the dawn
see the children cross the street to school
see them on saturday play soccer
he would walk home at lunch
we would have bread
with salads with soups in sandwiches
it would be enough his bread
we would be happy
Published in ArtLife Limited Editions February 2003
To produce this broadside, I literally bit the end off the baguette (bought from the bakery which inspired the poem of course), sliced it down the middle, copied the inside and the outside back to back, printed the poem inside, cut the loaves of bread out, folded them, spray glued the paper, stuck the bread on gray linen cardstock, then sifted flour over the whole page where it stuck to the toner and the spray glue. It was quite an elaborate procedure, assisted by two friends, a neighbor, and a bottle of red wine.
I have recorded an audio track but haven’t figured out how to get it loaded! Maybe I will make another video…
To read poems by other poets about this week’s Read Write Poem prompt to compose an elegy, go here.
Last Thursday I posted a more obvious response to this prompt, “Sonnet for Sept.11” here.
In Christine’s description of an elegy for the prompt, she points out that while we tend to think of them in funereal terms, they simply take as a subject a significant event or person (hence the elegy association with the death of a significant person).
Soon, I will post another poem and broadside, “Man Ray Kitty,” which also fits this prompt, so please check back!
Shishilop Project: Take 2
So I have spent most evenings the last two weeks at Surfer’s Point, chasing a non-foggy, windfree sunset with this poem, trying to record without as much turbulence as the first go round to submit it for consideration to GuerrillaReads. Unfortunately, this is the equation: sunset + beach = wind.
After numerous attempts (some quite humourous–I may do an “outtakes” video), I finally came up with a solution and this version. What do you think? To see the original video, go here.
While the recording aspect has been frustrating and hilarious (including getting run-off by two guys in a golf cart), I have enjoyed watching the sun traverse the sky, feeling the season change from summer to fall, following the moon’s growth to full.
art predator 